                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        June 7, 1996
     
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National 
AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a 
public service only. Providing this information does not 
constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC National AIDS 
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this 
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC 
National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this 
information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
     
     
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"Monkey Study Accents Risks of Oral Sex"
"H.I.V. Virus Still Spreading Rapidly, U.N. Says" 
"AIDS Drugs Urged for Health Workers"
"Younger People Withstand AIDS Better, Study Finds" 
"BioChem's Fortunes Rise"
"F.D.A. Rejects Sale of Drug for Shingles" 
"TV Clash Upsets French Anti-AIDS Campaign" 
"Namibia Calls for Help to AIDS Orphans"
"HIV Viral Load Markers in Clinical Practice" 
"Circle of Friends"
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"Monkey Study Accents Risks of Oral Sex"
New York Times (06/07/96) P. A18;  Altman, Lawrence K.
In a surprising study involving the Simian immunodeficiency virus 
(SIV), scientists say they have found evidence that HIV may be 
transmitted via oral sex.  Six of seven monkeys tested contracted 
SIV when it was applied to the backs of their mouths, even though 
they did not have open sores, cuts, or gum disease. Ruth M. 
Ruprecht and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and 
Tulane University reported the findings in today's issue of 
Science.  The researchers were surprised by their findings 
because epidemiological studies have shown that oral-genital 
exposure is a rare form of transmission.  Also surprising was the 
finding that the amount of SIV needed for infection was one 
six-thousandth of the amount needed for infection through the 
rectum.  The findings do not impact the government's 
recommendation to use condoms during oral sex, according to Ann 
Duerr, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
     
"H.I.V. Virus Still Spreading Rapidly, U.N. Says" 
New York Times (06/07/96) P. A3;  Simons, Marlise
     HIV is spreading rapidly around the world, especially in
Asia and southern Africa, and the number of people with 
full-blown AIDS has also increased sharply, the United Nations 
said Thursday.  Peter Piot, director of the United Nations Joint 
Program on HIV/AIDS, said that an estimated 1.3 million people 
are sick with AIDS, up 25 percent from 1994 to 1995.  About 21 
million adults are infected with HIV, and about 42 percent of 
them are women, the agency reported.  Piot added that "at least 
several million" children are infected, with 7,500 more people 
becoming infected daily.  The largest increases in AIDS cases are 
expected in China and Vietnam, with widespread infection already 
impacting India and southern Africa.  An estimated 10 percent of 
the adult population in South Africa is infected, while only 0.5 
percent of adults in North America and 0.2 percent in Western 
Europe are infected.  Officials from the United Nations said that 
governments' responses to prevention programs are still mixed 
despite the obvious threat.
     
"AIDS Drugs Urged for Health Workers" 
Washington Times (06/07/96) P. A5
     Health care workers exposed to HIV should be treated with 
antiviral drugs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
said Thursday, making the recommendation for the first time.  The 
agency said recent studies proved the usefulness of the 
antivirals, recommending that AZT or 3TC be administered to 
health care workers exposed to HIV while on the job.
     
"Younger People Withstand AIDS Better, Study Finds" 
Reuters (06/07/96) 
     Younger people are better able to fight off HIV infection
than older people, researchers at Britain's Imperial Cancer 
Research Fund in Oxford report in today's issue of the journal 
Lancet.  Sarah Darby and colleagues studied 1,200 HIV-infected 
hemophiliacs aged from eight months to 79 years.  They found that 
only 12 percent of those infected with HIV when they were over 55 
years old survived 10 years, compared to 86 percent of those 
under the age of 15 at the time of infection.  Different 
treatments for infection in older patients may be indicated, 
according to Paul Volberding, an AIDS expert at the University of 
California.
     
"BioChem's Fortunes Rise"
Toronto Globe and Mail (06/06/96) P. B7;  Swift, Allan
     BioChem Pharma said Wednesday that its anti-AIDS drug 3TC
has captured 35 percent of the North American market only five 
months after it was introduced.  Sales of the drug now exceed 
those of AZT, even though sales of AZT increased 50 percent last 
year.  Sales of 3TC, Epivir, reached $54 million in the United 
States since it was approved last November, and $2 million in 
Canada since its approval in December.  The company expects that 
its 1997 introduction of Lamivudine, a version of 3TC for 
hepatitis B, will further boost profits.
     
"F.D.A. Rejects Sale of Drug for Shingles" 
New York Times (06/07/96) P. A15
     A Food and Drug Administration panel voted against approving
Bristol-Myers Squibb's new anti-shingles drug Sorivudine, saying 
that the drug's benefits were not great enough to outweigh the 
risk of a lethal drug interaction.  Although Sorivudine heals 
shingles about a day faster than other treatments, and requires 
only one dose a day instead of multiple doses, it was implicated 
in the deaths of 15 Japanese who took the drug in combination 
with certain common anti-cancer drugs.  Bristol-Myers had 
contended that by cautioning physicians not to prescribe 
Sorivudine with the cancer drugs, U.S. patients--especially the 
AIDS patients most at risk from the painful disease--could use 
the drug safely.  The committee urged Bristol-Myers to conduct 
further research into the drug, saying that it might eventually 
prove to be useful for treating certain seriously ill patients.
     
"TV Clash Upsets French Anti-AIDS Campaign" 
Reuters (06/06/96);  Tran, Pierre
     An AIDS activist disrupted a live television show aimed at 
raising money for AIDS on Thursday, when he denounced the 
government's plan to deport illegal immigrants with HIV.  The 
show was part of an AIDS fund-raising day supported by the media 
and charities.  Christophe Martet of the group ACT-UP criticized 
Culture Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy over the plan to return a 
mother with HIV and her child to Zaire.  An argument in the 
studio between Martet and Douste-Blazy was shown on the 
television program.
     
"Namibia Calls for Help to AIDS Orphans" 
Xinhua News Agency (06/06/96) 
     Nickey Iyambo, Namibia's health and social services
minister, asked the community for help on Wednesday for children 
orphaned by AIDS.  He made the plea at a hospital where healthy 
children were being cared for after their mothers died as a 
result of childbirth.  An estimated 500 Namibians are infected 
with HIV each day, and the total number of infected people is 
20,177. President Sam Nujoma also asked the people of Namibia 
not to discriminate against AIDS patients and called on those 
with HIV to warn others about the disease.
     
"HIV Viral Load Markers in Clinical Practice"
Nature Medicine (06/96) Vol. 2, No. 6; P. 625;  Saag, M.S.; 
Holodniy, M.; Kuritzkes, D.R.; et al.
     The ability to detect HIV RNA in the bloodstream has allowed
for more detailed studies of how the virus replicates and impacts 
the body's immune system.  Plasma HIV RNA levels are associated 
with varying stages of disease and have been found useful in 
predicting disease progression.  CD4 cell counts, however, are 
the best predictor of short-term risk for new opportunistic 
infections.  Three plasma HIV RNA assays are available 
commercially, but none have been approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration for use in patient management.  Plasma HIV RNA 
assays are also useful for monitoring the effect of 
antiretroviral drugs.  Many clinicians are using such 
measurements to treat patients, though some remain uncertain of 
the best use of the information.  A panel of the International 
AIDS Society-USA made recommendations for the clinical use of 
these assays, advocating routine use of the tests for patient 
management.  The panel said that antiretroviral therapy should be 
used to minimize viral replication, which can be monitored with 
HIV RNA assays.  A three-fold or larger reduction or the plasma 
HIV RNA level is the minimal response that demonstrates an 
antiviral effect.
     
"Circle of Friends"
People (06/10/96) Vol. 45, No. 23; P. 91
     Facing losses of loved ones in 1993 and hoping to do
something positive in their grief, Dana Cappiello and Kathy 
Scutchfield of Woodside, Calif., started selling bracelets to 
benefit AIDS services and research.  The bracelets, which cost 
from $20 to $500 for silver plate, sterling silver, or gold, bear 
the slogan "Until There's a Cure," and proceeds are given to the 
Until There's a Cure Foundation.  Cappiello and Scutchfield even 
persuaded some retailers, including Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and 
The Body Shop, to donate their profits from the bracelet sales.  
An estimated 108,000 bracelets have been sold, and wearers 
include Robert Redford, Bette Midler, and Julia Roberts.
     
